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Student Newspaper of the University of Southern California Since 1912 | www.dailytrojan.com | VOL. 165, NO. 48 | Friday October 31, 2008
InDEX
2 · News Digest
4 · Opinion
7 · Sports
16 · Classifieds
17 · Crossword
20 · Lifestyle
Fright Fest: Check out
some of the best (and worst)
horror movies. PAGE 20
Husky Homecoming:
Winless Washington
comes to town. PAGE 7
By callie schweitzer
Daily Trojan
The USC Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics has
arranged for a TrojanTransportation tram to take
students to the two main off-campus polling sta-tions,
the Roger Williams Baptist Church on Adams
Boulevard and the Abundant Life Christian Church
on Normandie Avenue, on Election Day.
The institute requested the tram last week after
several campus political groups complained that
many students whose designated polling stations
are more than a mile from campus would miss their
chance to cast a ballot.
Students who live in on-campus housing on the
west side of school, such as Webb Tower, Fluor Tower,
Parkside I, Parkside II and Parkside Apartments,
are assigned to vote at the Roger Williams Baptist
Church on Adams Boulevard, which is too long a
walk for students without cars, said Bret VandenBos,
president of Students for Barack Obama and a junior
majoring in screenwriting. VandenBos said SFBO,
Students for John McCain, CalPIRG and the Political
Student Assembly got behind Unruh and wanted to
help with the cause.
“Students are already expecting to wait in lines for
one of the biggest elections in history,” VandenBos
said. “We wanted to limit any of the difficulties in
getting there.”
The commuting issue adds to an existing campus
voting problem that stems from erratically drawn
USC to provide
trams to polls
on Election Day
The tram will help students without their own
transportation commute to the polls Nov. 4.
| see trams, page 15 |
By Cuitlahuac gonzalez
Daily Trojan
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger an-nounced
this week the appointments
of two USC faculty members to serve
on academic and medical state com-mittees.
Geoffrey Baum, who has served as
the assistant dean of public affairs and
special events at the USC Annenberg
School for Communication since
2001, was appointed to the California
Community Colleges Board of
Governors.
Dr. Carmen Puliafito, who current-ly
serves as the dean at the USC Keck
School of Medicine and professor of
ophthalmology and health manage-ment
at the Doheny Eye Institute,
was appointed to the Independent
Citizens Oversight Committee.
“I’m enthusiastic about the ap-pointment,”
Puliafito said. “California
is the world center of stem cell re-search
and it’s very exciting to be a
part of the group that will be advanc-ing
this research in California.”
The ICOC is a 29-member commit-tee
that oversees the operations of the
California Institute for Regenerative
Medicine, which includes developing
Gov. names
Trojans to
commission
Baum and Puliafito applied
for their positions and were
chosen based on expertise.
| see commissions, page 3 |
Gary Fung | Daily Trojan
Family ties · Society 53, which recently replaced Pepsters as USC’s Alumni Association
student outreach program, allows students to network with successful graduates.
By nicole dailo
Daily Trojan
For many students at USC, the Trojan
Family can be an inside ticket to the most
coveted jobs and internships in the coun-try.
But for the members of the newly
formed student alumni association, Society
53, this network is more than just a helpful
sign on the road to a post-college job.
“USC is known for its Trojan Family,”
said Lisa Robinson, Society 53’s executive
vice president of administration. “[Society
53] is a really great way to meet alumni as
a freshman and to make those connections
now, to see what you can get out of it from
day one.”
Named for the 53 students who made
up USC’s first class in 1880, Society 53 is
the student branch of the USC Alumni
Association. Building on the example of
other prominent universities, the Alumni
Association decided to create a student di-vision
in an effort to strengthen the stu-dent-
alumni relationship.
Most of Society 53’s current members
originally belonged to a similar organi-zation
known as the Pepsters, which had
been struggling with a decline in enthusi-asm
and involvement among its own mem-bers.
Society 53 sought to address this is-sue
by absorbing the Pepsters into the new
group and making several improvements.
“[Society 53] takes the programs that the
Pepsters have been known for doing, and
we kept all of it: alumni events, Swim With
Mike. But we added more programming,”
said Max Slavkin, president of Society 53.
“We don’t want it to be a student organi-zation
where you show up once a month.
Each member will have ownership of some
program, so that you have to be engaged.”
Society 53 fosters active participation
among its members by dividing them into
committees that are responsible for book-ing
different events, along with guest
speakers, primarily alumni, at every meet-ing.
This hands-on aspect of Society 53 cre-ates
a sense of involvement and unity with-in
the group that greatly distinguishes it
from the Pepsters, said Stephanie Roberts,
Society 53’s executive vice president of ex-ternal
affairs.
“There was no emphasis placed on at-tending
meetings. There was no sense
of community among the members,”
Roberts said of the Pepsters, which she and
Alumni Association reaches out to
current students with new branch
Society 53 has replaced Pepsters as an
extension of the Alumni Association.
| see society 53, page 15 |
Actor and hip-hop artist Common came to McCarthy Quad on Thursday night to perform at
a concert sponsored by campus political groups. The concert caps a voter registration drive,
VoteSCount, which lasted three months and registered more than 5,000 USC students.
Common Ground
Leah Thompson | Daily Trojan
4
Days Until
Election
COUNTDOWN
SPORTS EXTRA PAGE 7

Student Newspaper of the University of Southern California Since 1912 | www.dailytrojan.com | VOL. 165, NO. 48 | Friday October 31, 2008
InDEX
2 · News Digest
4 · Opinion
7 · Sports
16 · Classifieds
17 · Crossword
20 · Lifestyle
Fright Fest: Check out
some of the best (and worst)
horror movies. PAGE 20
Husky Homecoming:
Winless Washington
comes to town. PAGE 7
By callie schweitzer
Daily Trojan
The USC Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics has
arranged for a TrojanTransportation tram to take
students to the two main off-campus polling sta-tions,
the Roger Williams Baptist Church on Adams
Boulevard and the Abundant Life Christian Church
on Normandie Avenue, on Election Day.
The institute requested the tram last week after
several campus political groups complained that
many students whose designated polling stations
are more than a mile from campus would miss their
chance to cast a ballot.
Students who live in on-campus housing on the
west side of school, such as Webb Tower, Fluor Tower,
Parkside I, Parkside II and Parkside Apartments,
are assigned to vote at the Roger Williams Baptist
Church on Adams Boulevard, which is too long a
walk for students without cars, said Bret VandenBos,
president of Students for Barack Obama and a junior
majoring in screenwriting. VandenBos said SFBO,
Students for John McCain, CalPIRG and the Political
Student Assembly got behind Unruh and wanted to
help with the cause.
“Students are already expecting to wait in lines for
one of the biggest elections in history,” VandenBos
said. “We wanted to limit any of the difficulties in
getting there.”
The commuting issue adds to an existing campus
voting problem that stems from erratically drawn
USC to provide
trams to polls
on Election Day
The tram will help students without their own
transportation commute to the polls Nov. 4.
| see trams, page 15 |
By Cuitlahuac gonzalez
Daily Trojan
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger an-nounced
this week the appointments
of two USC faculty members to serve
on academic and medical state com-mittees.
Geoffrey Baum, who has served as
the assistant dean of public affairs and
special events at the USC Annenberg
School for Communication since
2001, was appointed to the California
Community Colleges Board of
Governors.
Dr. Carmen Puliafito, who current-ly
serves as the dean at the USC Keck
School of Medicine and professor of
ophthalmology and health manage-ment
at the Doheny Eye Institute,
was appointed to the Independent
Citizens Oversight Committee.
“I’m enthusiastic about the ap-pointment,”
Puliafito said. “California
is the world center of stem cell re-search
and it’s very exciting to be a
part of the group that will be advanc-ing
this research in California.”
The ICOC is a 29-member commit-tee
that oversees the operations of the
California Institute for Regenerative
Medicine, which includes developing
Gov. names
Trojans to
commission
Baum and Puliafito applied
for their positions and were
chosen based on expertise.
| see commissions, page 3 |
Gary Fung | Daily Trojan
Family ties · Society 53, which recently replaced Pepsters as USC’s Alumni Association
student outreach program, allows students to network with successful graduates.
By nicole dailo
Daily Trojan
For many students at USC, the Trojan
Family can be an inside ticket to the most
coveted jobs and internships in the coun-try.
But for the members of the newly
formed student alumni association, Society
53, this network is more than just a helpful
sign on the road to a post-college job.
“USC is known for its Trojan Family,”
said Lisa Robinson, Society 53’s executive
vice president of administration. “[Society
53] is a really great way to meet alumni as
a freshman and to make those connections
now, to see what you can get out of it from
day one.”
Named for the 53 students who made
up USC’s first class in 1880, Society 53 is
the student branch of the USC Alumni
Association. Building on the example of
other prominent universities, the Alumni
Association decided to create a student di-vision
in an effort to strengthen the stu-dent-
alumni relationship.
Most of Society 53’s current members
originally belonged to a similar organi-zation
known as the Pepsters, which had
been struggling with a decline in enthusi-asm
and involvement among its own mem-bers.
Society 53 sought to address this is-sue
by absorbing the Pepsters into the new
group and making several improvements.
“[Society 53] takes the programs that the
Pepsters have been known for doing, and
we kept all of it: alumni events, Swim With
Mike. But we added more programming,”
said Max Slavkin, president of Society 53.
“We don’t want it to be a student organi-zation
where you show up once a month.
Each member will have ownership of some
program, so that you have to be engaged.”
Society 53 fosters active participation
among its members by dividing them into
committees that are responsible for book-ing
different events, along with guest
speakers, primarily alumni, at every meet-ing.
This hands-on aspect of Society 53 cre-ates
a sense of involvement and unity with-in
the group that greatly distinguishes it
from the Pepsters, said Stephanie Roberts,
Society 53’s executive vice president of ex-ternal
affairs.
“There was no emphasis placed on at-tending
meetings. There was no sense
of community among the members,”
Roberts said of the Pepsters, which she and
Alumni Association reaches out to
current students with new branch
Society 53 has replaced Pepsters as an
extension of the Alumni Association.
| see society 53, page 15 |
Actor and hip-hop artist Common came to McCarthy Quad on Thursday night to perform at
a concert sponsored by campus political groups. The concert caps a voter registration drive,
VoteSCount, which lasted three months and registered more than 5,000 USC students.
Common Ground
Leah Thompson | Daily Trojan
4
Days Until
Election
COUNTDOWN
SPORTS EXTRA PAGE 7